Monday, July 02, 2007

Some people may call it puppy love

Occasionally I get emails and comments that accuse me or Sideshow Bob of being a variety of different people. Sometimes we're people who actually don't play kickball at all, other times I am the guy who runs the Little Rock Arkansas kickball league, but most of the time people think I run NAKID. This comment regarding my last post sums that up:

Wow I even play for NAKID and I find it hilariously ironic that this blog typifys evrything that is wrong with kickball in DC(spinning insignificant details and stories into huge political issues). I am left wondering about this authors connection to NAKID because flaws can be found in ALL of the area kickball leaugues (to which we never hear about any from the later mentioned league). And yes I do realize this is a blog and you are not required to be unbaised. -Matt (sic)

I fully admit to having puppy love and a crush on NAKID. I know it's partially because it's one of the newest leagues in the area and thus small and subject to fewer problems than the Kash guys' and DC Kickball. It's also because the people I have spoken to in all leagues agree that you get your money's worth the most in NAKID. But mostly it's because while I have problems with it, at least for now, it's still my favorite. I had planned to so a sort of "season in review" for my experiences in it and this is as good a time as any.

First, the things I have problems with:

1) While I enjoy that the parties for the division you play in are free, I don't appreciate that the first two had virtually no air conditioning. While I understand that this is not the fault of the people in charge and more of the bar, it still should have been checked out in person before we were assured it would be working for the second party. All I can say is it better be working Saturday.

2) I really still get a bit annoyed at the people who share my puppy love crush on NAKID always feeling the need to defend it when others say or post anything elsewhere about the league. My feeling is that if you are secure in the greatness of the league you don't have to respond to everything.

3) The registration process is still in the dregs as I have written about before. Many people still tend to show up more than once, using the payment system is difficult for some of us, and it really needs to be streamlines. It's been a year and a half already.

4) Having the people (or person?) who run it around at everything is good and bad. The bad is that there is a tendency, in my opinion, for people to be more guarded at events or the bar then they would normally be. It also can lead to more run-ins with the people in charge than the other leagues have - that's not necessarily a good thing.

5) Teams have been been banned or disbanded from the league which is not always so good. For a new league you would think they'd want as many teams and as much good word of mouth as possible. Certainly some of the handling of teams/players will not lead to that.

6) Growing too fast? It's possible because while I understand the desire to want new teams and how difficult it may be to turn down new teams, quality control is what would continue to set NAKID apart from other leagues. As the league has grown it has seen a few chinks in the armor as stated above, as the league grows larger those need to be dealt with.

And to the good:

1) I do love getting a returning player discount and a discount for playing on more than one night. I like that the parties are free for the division you play in.

2) No forfeits, open rosters. I LOVE this rule as many times my team has been short players and instead of wasting the whole day we get to play. Sure we lost most of the time because of being down runs but at least the game counted.

3) Social activities, $1 hats, and ridiculously large trophies. At least for now, makes it seem like most of the money goes back into the league.

4) Getting the second sponsor bar to be right next to the current one is awesome! Twice as many people to try to get with it.

I assume as in any relationship, kickball or otherwise, the bloom will recede from the rose as time passes. For now though it is my favorite league and I will probably continue in posts to be biased toward it. As many people tend to be with the one they are infatuated with, despite the flaws, I am very happy with it.

As to the comment above questioning my "connection to NAKID", that's fine people can think whatever they want. It doesn't change the fact that when I or Sideshow Bob post something about the different kickball leagues here most of the attacks on what we write are not on the merits or truth of what we wrote, but an attempt to poison the well against us. So"Matt" question me if you will, but continue to not even comment regarding my post. And to this guy on wakakickball365.com it's fine for you to continue to think I am on NAKID's payroll, but it doesn't change the facts written in my last post.

In short, I admit to loving one league more than others and I'm okay with that coming across in my posts. As things come up in all my leagues I will continue to point that out here in an effort to make these leagues fix their problems. I'm sorry if that "typifies everything that is wrong with kickball in DC" - to me it's wanting to make something you care about better.